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Societies to be involved in catchment area plans
Rs 1,800 cr project for Pong sanctuary
Mild quake in Kangra valley
Encroachers evicted
State police Act, rules likely
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DC denies allegation on fake votes
BJP asks Governor to ensure fair poll
Removal of anomaly in NPA sought
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Societies to be involved in catchment area plans
Shimla, December 14 The effective implementation of these plans was essential to ensure sediment-free water in the river system by improving the vegetative cover. Keeping this in view, societies will be set up for all major river basins where hydroelectric projects are being set up. While a society for Upper Sutlej Valley, comprising the catchment area upstream the Rampur project, has been formed, another society will be constituted for the downstream area up to the Bhakra Dam. A sum of Rs 266 crore will be available for the upper valley in which two major projects, the Nathpa Jhakri project and the Baspa project, have been commissioned and six more were coming up. So far, Rs 109 crore has been placed at the disposal of the society out of which Rs 17.27 crore had been spent until March, 2005. A sum of Rs 20 crore was being spent during the current financial year. Mr Ram Lal Thakur, the forest minister, said some power companies had doubts about the implementation of catchment area treatment plans and felt the pace of work was slow. He said the government had decided to give representation to the companies and non-governmental organisations in the executive committee of the societies to bring transparency in their functioning. The main reason for slow progress was that the upper Sutlej valley came under snow during winter and as such the working period was short. Besides afforestation and soil conservation, development of non-timber forest products and pastures, repair of forest trails and maintenance of natural water resources was also being undertaken under these plans. Special emphasis was being laid on the propagation of medicinal plants and herbs in the area to ensure additional income for the local people. |
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Rs 1,800 cr project for Pong sanctuary
Shimla, December 14 Giving details of the project at a press conference here today, Mr Ram Lal Thakur, Forest Minister, said the main thrust was on rehabilitation of the endangered bird species and protecting the migratory birds which throng the sprawling water body in large numbers every winter. An area of 110 sq km had been earmarked as conservation zone in which facilities for breeding conservation, bird hospital ,rescue centre and nesting sites for birds would be developed. In the rehabilitation zone spreading over 56 sq km, channelisation of nullahs and streams, soil conservation works and afforestation would be carried out. An area of 50 sq km had been selected for tourism activities which would be mostly carried out in the private sector. It would include bird watching, boating, camping and angling which would not cause any disturbance in the sanctuary, he said. He disclosed that the Japanese government had agreed to fund the Rs 130 crore Swan Channelisation project in Una district. The main objective of the scheme was to check soil erosion by integrated development of the catchment through the watershed approach. The seven-year project would be funded by a Japan bank for international cooperation. It would cover 60 panchayats and 300 wards of Swan catchment. Another major achievement of the government was the approval granted by the World Bank to the Rs 365 crore Mid-Himalayan Watershed Development project. It would cover 545 panchayats falling between the altitudinal limits of 800 m and 1600 m in 10 districts over a period of six years. Only Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti would not be covered. |
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Mild quake in Kangra valley
Kangra, December 14 Dr Kamal of the Seismological Department told The Tribune that the magnitude of the earthquake was measured at 5 on the Richter scale with its epicentre in the north-west of Badrinath. He said that the earthquake was experienced at the depth of 100 km so there was no major damage to the property and life. He said high intensity was experienced for 4 to 5 seconds which went up to 10 to 15 seconds, but the earthquake lasted 10 minutes. There was no loss of life and property reported from any part of the valley. The people in the Kangra valley felt the tremors at 12.45 p.m. In some localities people rushed out of their houses too. Yesterday too the valley was shaken by a mild tremor in the morning. |
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Encroachers evicted
Shimla, December 14 The demolition drive was resumed by the MC as 26 structures were demolished in the Portmore area near the Chief Minister’s residence. The MC had earlier issued eviction notices to 106 persons who had raised unauthorised structures on forest land. Some of the structures, which were demolished by the MC today, had been reconstructed after the demolition undertaken last month. The MC, which had started its demolition drive on November 23, was forced to suspend it as the encroachers had moved court. However, the High Court rejected the undertaking given by 41 encroachers as neither was it unconditional nor unequivocal. There are a total of 916 encroachments on forest land within the municipal limits. The court had earlier directed the government that all encroachments be removed. The demolition drive is being undertaken in compliance with the High Court directions of removing all unauthorised structures. The total number of encroachments within the MC limits is more than 5,000, which include structures on PWD, revenue and other government land. Following MC action, there were widespread protests not only by the “dhara” owners but various political parties who came to their rescue. The CPM threatened that it would launch an agitation in case the MC removed these poor people from their dwellings. They said that when the government had itself given water and electricity connections to these people, it had no right to evict them. They said that some alternative arrangement must be made to accommodate these people as most of them were from weaker sections. Meanwhile, the Mayor, Mr Sohan Lal, said the government could think of some rehabilitation plan to accommodate those belonging to poor families if they applied separately. |
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State police Act, rules likely
Shimla, December 14 This was stated by the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, while reviewing the functioning of the Home Department here yesterday. “Himachal is still guided by the Punjab Police Act and Rules and the need for having its own act and rules is being felt,” he remarked. The Chief Minister said all aspects would be taken into consideration and an exhaustive study of acts and rules of various states would be undertaken. He said that the most suitable Acts and Rules would be adopted in the interest of the state and its people. He said the authorities concerned would carry out detailed studies of the various state police manuals so that the most suitable provisions were adopted. The Chief Minister said the jail staff should have a distinct smart uniform, as this would help them in discharging their duties more efficiently. “We are considering giving uniform allowance to the jail staff at par with other police personnel,” he said. He felt that jail staff should be given periodic training so that they were well equipped to tackle any situation. He said that modernisation of the jails was being done in accordance with the provisions of the police manual. “We are also making efforts to equip the jail inmates with self-employment skills so that they can earn a respectable income while serving their sentence,” he said. |
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DC denies allegation on fake votes
Solan, December 14 Dismissing the allegations as baseless, he said if the BJP had concrete facts they should have made an appeal to him to reject those votes. The fact that not a single appeal was made to him proved the veracity of the allegations. Giving details to media persons here today, he said a maximum of 42 votes out of the 60 applications received between November 3 and 29 had been rejected in Ward No 1. All 19 votes, including nine from Ward 1, which were allegedly verified by a patwari of the municipal committee in the mini-secretariat on December 2, were also rejected for various deficiencies. This included a case where an applicant was found not fulfilling the requisite age qualification. As many as 6, 8, 20, 2, 4,2 and 3 votes had been rejected, respectively, in Ward Nos 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10 and 12 after a due scrutiny. The BJP MLA, Dr Rajiv Bindal, had earlier raised a banner of protest against the manner in which scores of votes pertaining to Ward Nos 1 and 2 were being surreptitiously made on December 2. While the wife of a Congress office-bearer was contesting from Ward No 1, another nominated Congress councillor was in the fray from Ward No 2. Dr Bindal, when contacted, said the votes which had been rejected were genuine BJP supporters or Congressmen owing allegiance to the Stokes faction. He rued that the DC had failed to entertain their repeated appeals. He alleged that the maximum fake votes had been made in Ward Nos 1 and 2 where the Congressmen owing allegiance to the Chief Minister were contesting. |
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BJP asks Governor to ensure fair poll
Shimla, December 14 In a representation given to the Governor, Mr V.S. Kokje, the state BJP chief, Mr Suresh Bhardwaj, requested that he should direct the Election Commission to ensure free and fair elections. “Despite our repeated request to the Election Commissioner to take action against the Congress for violating the model code of conduct no action has been taken,” he said. The BJP leader said the Chief Minister, ministers and Congress MLAs were carrying on with inaugurations and announcements to woo voters despite the model code of conduct being in force. |
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Removal of anomaly in NPA sought
Shimla, December 14 It pointed out that the NPA had been granted to veterinary doctors at the rate of 25 per cent of the basic pay but it had been excluded for the purpose of the dearness allowance travelling and retirement benefits, which was allowed earlier. It was causing great resentment among the field veterinarians as the same benefits were being allowed to doctors. An anomaly had been created as the veterinarian and medicos had the same pay structure. The association also demanded hike in monthly emoluments of veterinary doctors employed on contract basis from Rs 8,000 to Rs 16,000. |
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